CARPLS

I just spoke with a representative of carpl for legal advice. He was the rudest and most unprofessional person. They offer «free» legal advice but then wants all your personal information. If you do not feel comfortable giving them that information, then they won’t give any advice. If it can be helped, avoid dealing with this headache.

Pros: an excellent lawyer by the name of Carla (5 STARS)
Cons: little oversight, ineffectual lawyers, wait times forever
Before I get into specifics about CARPLS I just want to say I wish Unilocal had a different type of rating system because in my particular case I had to talk to several lawyers (because of a thorny legal issue). Some were excellent (a lawyer by the name of CARLA) and the others ranged from fair to middling to one who was just downright nasty!
I don’t how much oversight there is, but I suspect there’s very little. I know it’s FREE, but what good is it if they don’t want to be there or could care less if they give you good legal advice or not? It’s lawyers being lawyers. End of rant!
Expect to wait at least 20 min. after which time they’ll ask you if you’d like a call back, I would definitely advise everyone to accept this option. They will call you back within an hour, so definitely wait. Also, it’s much better to call in the afternoon, than the morning. Monday is when everybody calls so either call later in the week or as early as 9:00 AM (you’ll still have to wait). I don’t have enough minutes on my phone, so I use Google Voice on my laptop.
M-​Fri — 312−738−9200 – (9:00 — 4:30PM) Mon. & Wed. open til 7:30PM
Have all your information ready, they will pre-​qualify you, if you’re low-​income it’s FREE, you can’t just call for a friend, remember you’re dealing with hard-​nosed lawyers, if you’re not (low-​income) there is a FEE, they’ll also ask you about your income, your job, who’s paying your rent and for your court case number. Heaven forbid you should get FREE legal advice!
FYI, they keep a record of every time you call and the details of your discussion with them, once again, they’re lawyers, they write everything down and so should YOU!
In conclusion, CARPLS could be a lot better if there was some kind of oversight, being able to talked to someone that is human and an updated phone system.
For now though I just don’t see that happening… but hope springs eternal doesn’t it?

It’s a funny name. It makes me think of wrist injuries. After all, it IS a legal services organization. But not at all painful, and actually quite easy and helpful. And free. One can use this service to get some basic answers to legal issues or questions, and to obtain referrals, if needed. You don’t need to be sued or in court to use this service.
I called for some guidance/​advice on a legal/​financial matter. After being on hold for 15 minutes or so, I was given the option to leave a message. A lawyer returned my call within about 30 minutes (of course when I was at the grocery store!) and I was able to get some great advice after answering a few questions. It’s great that you can get this free advice without having to register on a website, jump through a lot of hoops, or give out too much confidential information.
As a token of my appreciation, I promise not to tell any more lawyer jokes.